boris & gleb 1

Volodimir the Great [+1015] had twelve sons. 

Not by one wife, but by their several mothers. 

Among these sons, Vysheslav was the eldest. 

And after him came Iziaslav. 

The third was Sviatopolk - he who conceived the evil murder. 

His mother, a Greek, was formerly a nun, and Iaropolk, Volodimir's brother, had taken her, and because of the beauty of her face, had unfrocked her, and thus begot of her this accursed Sviatopolk. 

But Volodimir, who was still a pagan, killed Iaropolk. And he took his wife, who was pregnant. And of her was born this accursed Sviatopolk. And he was of two fathers who were brothers, and for this reason Volodimir loved him not, for he was not of him. 

And by Rogneda, he had four sons: Iziaslav, Mstislav, Iaroslav, and Vsevolod. 

And by another, he had Sviatoslav and Mstislav.

And by a Bulgarian woman, Boris and Gleb. 

And he placed them all in different lands as rulers. 

He placed the accursed Sviatopolk as ruler in Pinsk, Belarus. 

And Iaroslav in Novgorod [+-Petersburg], Boris in Rostov, and Gleb in Murom.

[bron]